D7M Suvwl' QeH (Warrior's Anger) Class
Loosely based off the hull of the D7B qItI'tinga' (Great Powerful Conqueror) Class Heavy Cruiser, the SuvwI’ QeH Class Command Cruiser is a vital part of Klingon battle tactics, utilising a good combination of speed and firepower, including captured Gorn technology, to lead task forces. Development The original D7 qItI'tinga' (Great Powerful Conqueror) Class was designed as a replacement for the ageing D6A Kl'ar (Leader) Class. The Kl'ar had already proven to be increasingly obsolescent by the late 2230s and a larger, more capable Cruiser was required. Essentially a scaled up and "fleshed out" D6A, the D7 out performed her smaller progenitor in every way. She was faster, more heavily armed, more heavily armoured and shielded and possessed the latest in sensor technology available to the Klingon Empire at that time. Given her basis on a proven design, the introduction of the D7 proceeded quickly beginning in 2242. Production was accelerated, as were withdrawals of the D6A, following the disastrous incursions into Federation space in 2244, 2246 and most seriously in 2248 at the Battle of Bernard. Complete replacement had occurred by 2250, with 2/3rds of the D6A's in service being transferred to the Romulan Star Empire and the remainder being converted for specialised duties. In 2255, after the acquisition of Cloaking Technology from the Romulans, the qItI'tinga' received her first refit, becoming the D7A. Captains were ordered to only engage or disengage the Cloaking Device when outside of Federation sensor range, so as to keep the device a secret from Starfleet Intelligence. This directive was followed successfully for many years, and Federation analysts were unaware of the usage of Cloaking Devices by the Klingon Empire until the beginning of the 2270s. Further refinement to the qItI'tinga' design came in 2264 with the fitting of Heavy Disruptors in place of one pair of standard Disruptors. This gave the resulting D7B considerable forward firepower, able to go toe-to-toe with the Federation Constitution Class. The many stand-offs of the 2260s between the Klingon Defence Force and Starfleet nearly always involved these two classes, although even in the 4-Day War of 2266 they never truly faced off against each other, one or the other withdrawing before a killing blow could be dealt. In 2287, the story of the SuvwI’ QeH Class begins. Whilst this class of ship is named SuvwI’ QeH it would be more appropriate to name it the "vav bortaS” or “Father’s Revenge”. The head of the wealthy and powerful Gorthas family, Doj’kan, financed the conversion of his personal D7B qItI'tinga' Class, the SuvwI’ QeH, into the powerful Command Cruiser used today solely to exact revenge on house Moltak for the death of his son. Doj’kan's son Kroj’duH had been in basic training and was nearing completion when Krang, son of Graltz, caused an accident that killed Kroj’duH and several other young warriors. During a training cruise on a dilapidated D6A Kl'ar (Leader) Class, Chief Engineer Krang, while manning the bridge engineering station, neglected to inform the cadet Captain that an anti-matter flush vent was malfunctioning when the ship entered a nebula. Ionised gas entered into one of the magnetic anti-matter storage bottles through the partially open vent, causing it to explode. A sizeable portion of the engineering section of the ship was destroyed in the explosion, killing Kroj’duH and many other engineering trainees. Graltz contacted his brother Moltak to see if anything could be done to cover the disgrace of his son Krang, thus saving Krang and the House of Moltak a loss of face. Because Moltak was close friends with the commander of the training fleet, the blame for the accident was shifted from Krang and placed on Kroj’duH and the engineering trainees. Doj’kan, who had been the Chief Engineer on numerous starships before inheriting the leadership of his house, refused to believe that the son he personally taught would make such a mistake. Investing much of House Gorthas’ resources and calling in many favours, Doj’kan finally discovered the truth about the incident. Concurrently, he also discovered that after Krang completed basic training six months from then, he was to command his father’s personal D7B on a brief shakedown cruise following a maintenance overhaul. Blinded with rage, Doj’kan converted his D7B with vengeance as the primary design influence. Six months later, with Graltz, Moltak and several other key members of their House aboard, Krang was returning to his home port from the shakedown cruise. Encountering an unfamiliar Klingon vessel, he hailed it, but was greeted by a broadcast of damning testimony from one of the bridge officers of the illfated D6A. Moltak, infuriated, demanded to know who was broadcasting that testimony. Doj’kan revealed his identity and challenged House Moltak to single ship-to-ship combat immediately. When Moltak, realising the vulnerability of his House, attempted to back down, Krang foolishly accepted the challenge. In a short but bloody battle, the SuvwI’ QeH, destroyed the D7B and the bulk of House Moltak. When the results of the battle were discovered it was clearly obvious that the design changes made to the SuvwI’ QeH were a great improvement over the standard D7B. The High Council not only recognised that Doj’kan was within his rights of revenge but requested the design plans to convert existing D7Bs to the SuvwI’ QeH variant and to construct new ones. The first official production SuvwI’ QeH was christened the IKS Kroj’duH and was launched in 2289. In 2290, agents from the Imperial Intelligence Service‏‎ provided to the KDF plans for the Gorn Gravimetric Harmonic Resonance Cannon, or GHRC. This device utilised the Tractor Beam Emitter of a ship to project a powerful gravimetric wave at the exact harmonic resonance of a targets hull. This would cause massive hull damage even through shields. The GHRC was well within the technological capacity of the Empire, and soon it was deployed onboard Suvwl' QeH Class ships, adding to their already impressive arsenal. Operational History Doj’kan's new Cruiser design could not have come at a better time for the KDF. The Organian Conflict had turned against the Coalition, and the KDF was badly in need of a stronger Cruiser design to face newly introduced Starfleet designs. By the time the IKS Kroj’duH was launched, the War of Pacification had begun, and these new Cruisers were turned against the forces of the ISC. She proved more able than the older D7C qItI'tinga' (Great Powerful Conqueror) Class at punching through the shields of ISC vessels, thanks to her twin forward Photon Torpedo Tubes, and her stronger shielding and more powerful sensors made her more able to choose the location of an engagement and avoid those she could not win. She remained few in number, due to shipyard space being devoted to replenishing wartime losses of other designs. In the Ormong of 2291, the SuvwI’ QeH proved a vital part of the combat plans of all three sides, and due to her position as one of the newest ships in the fleet, she was kept largely out of harms way. In the decisive battles to which she was committed, she proved powerful if a little unmanouverable for a ship of her size. By far the largest commitment of the Suvwl' QeH came with the General War in 2292. Losses were accordingly heavy, but this was down to tactical errors rather than any design weakness. Production of new vessels continued throughout the war, although the total in service never recovered to pre-war levels. Apocrypha After the loss of the Tal'Ihnor Gates System and the devastating Praxis Incident, production of Capital Ships for the KDF slowed dramatically. With the coming of the Khitomer Accords of 2293, the need for a massive fleet passed. The Suvwl' QeH Class was not as suited for long term refits as the D7C qItI'tinga' (Great Powerful Conqueror) Class, although production of the D7M continued well into the 24th Century. The Suvwl' QeH was eventually retired in the 2340s as new torpedo designs debuted that were unsuitable for her spaceframe. Specifications * Class: 'Command Cruiser * 'Hull Type Designation: '''KCC * '''Length: 336m * Crew: 395 * Warp Nacelles: '''3 * '''Maximum Sublight Speed: 3300 k/s (33 Mk/s) * Cruise Warp Factor Speed: wf 7.9 * Safe Maximum Warp Factor Speed: wf 9.4 * Hull Rating: '260 HSF * 'Shield Rating: 478 FSP * Sensor Rating: 800 SRU * Armament and Equipment: ** Primary *** 4 × Disruptor Cannon ** Secondary *** 2 × Photon Torpedo Tube ** Heavy *** None ** Advanced *** Gravimetric Harmonic Resonance Cannon (GHRC) ** Equipment *** Tractor Beam Emitter *** Klingon-Type Cloaking Device *** Probes *** Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) *** 2 × D'ktagh (Dagger) Shuttle Ships in Service (2292) IKS Kroj’duH IKS Suvw'LoQ IKS M'QatH IKS Qi'ThI IKS TaQ'DuJ IKS DuJ'Qo'TaH IKS Qith'jaCh IKS neGk'toQ IKS miKq'LoQ IKS teKh'RaQ IKS Ko'vaHt IKS HegH'TaQ IKS MoQ'TiHk IKS Th'InTaS IKS TiQ'A'TiQa IKS G'o'qwL IKS Noq'lotH IKS thOq'DaKh IKS MiQ'qin'tahK IKS DaHk'Qo IKS y'n'qO'aH IKS ma'ToQhK IKS Kr'OtH IKS ToHms'Kt IKS Duq'NotK Category:Klingon Vessels Category:Cruisers Category:Command Cruisers